USDA Now Accepting Loan Requests

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin accepting requests for marketing assistance loans (MALs) and loan deficiency payments (LDPs) for eligible 2014 commodities. Notice of the authorization was recently published in the Federal Register.

MALs and LDPs for the 2014 crop year become available to eligible producers beginning with harvest/shearing season and extending through a specific commodity’s final loan availability date. Sugar commodity loans for 2014 crop will be available to sugar processors beginning Oct. 1, 2014.

MALs and LDPs provide financing and marketing assistance for wheat, feed grains, soybeans and other oilseeds, pulse crops, rice, peanuts, cotton, wool, mohair and honey. MALs provide producers interim financing after harvest to help them meet cash flow needs without having to sell their commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. Allowing farmers to store their products at harvest facilitates a more orderly marketing of commodities throughout the year. A producer who is eligible to obtain a loan, but agrees to forgo the loan, may obtain an LDP if such a payment is available. Marketing loan provisions and LDPs are not available for sugar and extra-long staple cotton.

Payment Limits Established

The 2014 Farm Bill also establishes payment limitations per individual or entity not to exceed $125,000 annually on certain commodities for the following program benefits: price loss coverage payments, agriculture risk coverage payments, marketing loan gains (MLGs) and LDPs. These payment limitations do not apply to MAL loan disbursements. Please consult your local FSA office for details.

Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) provisions were modified by the 2014 Farm Bill, which states that a producer whose total applicable three-year average AGI exceeds $900,000 is not eligible to receive an MLG or LDP. The 2014 Farm Bill establishes national loan rates for the 2014 crops of wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, pulse crops, milled rice, peanuts, extra-long staple cotton, wool, mohair, sugar and honey.

The 2014 Farm Bill requires the upland cotton base quality loan rate to be determined annually according to the applicable provisions. County loan rates also have been announced for the 2014 crops of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans and other oilseeds; national milled rice loan rates by class and state rough rice loan rates by class for the 2014 rice crop.